Reanalysis of the USGS Alaskan benchmark glacier dataset
Abstract
Resolving the relationship between glacier surface-forcing (climate) and glacier geometry changes is accomplished through mass-balance estimates which can be made with remote sensing methods or field-based observations. The small scale of Alaskan glaciers has prevented remote sensing methods until recently, and field data are essential for validating new techniques. Field data provide the only long duration record that can be studied with respect to climate. The United States Geological Survey has maintained a 44-year mass-balance program at Alaska’s Gulkana Glacier and Wolverine Glacier. We have reanalyzed the Alaskan benchmark glaciers mass balance time series so that all data are treated similarly and systematically. Both glaciers are undergoing sustained mass loss with an increasing rate in recent years. However, the magnitude of the calculated loss depends on the number and location of the data collection sites. We explore the sensitivity of the glacier-wide balance estimates to the method of integration used on the necessarily point data. The robustness of the balance is strengthened with use of independent photogrammetric measurements.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.C33G..06V
- Keywords:
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- 1621 GLOBAL CHANGE / Cryospheric change